By Brimer H.B. No. 1109
76R4484 SMH-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the regulation of the practice of therapeutic
1-3 optometry.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 1.02, Texas Optometry Act (Article
1-6 4552-1.02, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended by amending
1-7 Subdivisions (7) and (8) and adding Subdivision (11) to read as
1-8 follows:
1-9 (7) The "practice of therapeutic optometry" means the
1-10 employment of objective or subjective means for the purpose of
1-11 ascertaining and measuring the powers of vision of the human eye,
1-12 examining and diagnosing visual defects, abnormal conditions, and
1-13 diseases of the human eye and adnexa, prescribing or fitting lenses
1-14 or prisms to correct or remedy a defect or abnormal condition of
1-15 vision, administering or prescribing a drug or physical treatment
1-16 in the manner authorized by this Act, and treating the vision
1-17 system, including the eye and adnexa, as authorized by this Act
1-18 [without the use of surgery or laser surgery].
1-19 (8) "Adnexa" means the lids and drainage system of the
1-20 eye and related structures.
1-21 (11) "Surgery" or "surgical procedure" means a cutting
1-22 operation.
1-23 SECTION 2. Sections 1.03(b), (d), (e), and (f), Texas
1-24 Optometry Act (Article 4552-1.03, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes),
2-1 are amended to read as follows:
2-2 (b) A therapeutic optometrist may administer and prescribe
2-3 any appropriate medication, procedure, or device [ophthalmic
2-4 devices, over-the-counter oral medications, and topical ocular
2-5 pharmaceutical agents, other than antiviral agents and antiglaucoma
2-6 agents,] for the purpose of diagnosing and treating visual defects,
2-7 abnormal conditions, and diseases of the human vision system,
2-8 including the eye and adnexa [and may remove superficial foreign
2-9 matter and eyelashes from the external eye or adnexa. If a
2-10 therapeutic optometrist utilizes topical steroids of a strength of
2-11 one percent concentration to treat a condition and the condition
2-12 has not substantially improved within seven days of the initial
2-13 topical steroid application, the therapeutic optometrist shall
2-14 consult with an ophthalmologist and the ophthalmologist shall then
2-15 establish the treatment regimen. If a therapeutic optometrist
2-16 utilizes topical steroids of a strength of less than one percent
2-17 concentration to treat a condition and the condition has not
2-18 substantially improved within 14 days of the initial topical
2-19 steroid application, the therapeutic optometrist shall consult with
2-20 an ophthalmologist and the ophthalmologist shall then establish the
2-21 treatment regimen. This subsection does not authorize an
2-22 optometrist to treat glaucoma in a manner that was not permitted by
2-23 law on August 31, 1991].
2-24 (d) A therapeutic optometrist may not administer or
2-25 prescribe oral or parenteral medications or treat glaucoma without
2-26 being certified by the board. To be eligible for certification, a
2-27 therapeutic optometrist who graduated from a college of optometry
3-1 before September 1, 2000, must:
3-2 (1) complete 24 hours of instruction in a clinical
3-3 review course approved by the board on pharmacology and the
3-4 treatment, management, and timely referral for surgical
3-5 intervention of glaucoma; and
3-6 (2) pass an examination approved by the board covering
3-7 those subjects.
3-8 (e) A therapeutic optometrist may not perform a surgical
3-9 procedure without being certified by the board as authorized to
3-10 perform that procedure. To be eligible for certification, a
3-11 therapeutic optometrist must possess the academic and professional
3-12 credentials required by the board for eligibility for
3-13 certification.
3-14 (f) The board by rule shall specify the professional
3-15 designation of a therapeutic optometrist certified under Subsection
3-16 (d) or (e) of this section. [The board shall adopt rules setting
3-17 forth the specific pharmaceutical agents therapeutic optometrists
3-18 may use in the practice of therapeutic optometry. Use by a
3-19 therapeutic optometrist of pharmaceutical agents not authorized by
3-20 the board or otherwise authorized by law shall constitute a
3-21 violation of this Act.]
3-22 [(e) A five-member technical advisory committee is created
3-23 to assist the board in determining the specific pharmaceutical
3-24 agents which may be used in the practice of therapeutic optometry.
3-25 Appointments to the committee shall be for two-year terms, and no
3-26 member may serve more than two consecutive terms.]
3-27 [(f) The members of the technical advisory committee shall
4-1 be appointed as follows: one must be an optometrist or therapeutic
4-2 optometrist licensed and practicing in this state, appointed by the
4-3 Texas Optometry Board; one must be a physician licensed and
4-4 practicing in this state whose practice is limited to
4-5 ophthalmology, appointed by the Texas State Board of Medical
4-6 Examiners; one must be a pharmacist licensed and practicing
4-7 pharmacy in this state, appointed by the Texas State Board of
4-8 Pharmacy; one must be a faculty member at a state medical
4-9 institution of higher education with expertise in pharmacology,
4-10 appointed by the Texas State Board of Medical Examiners; and one
4-11 must be a faculty member of a college of optometry at a state
4-12 institution of higher education, appointed by the Texas Optometry
4-13 Board.]
4-14 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
4-15 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-16 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-17 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-18 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
4-19 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
4-20 passage, and it is so enacted.